From the new-wave vocal powerhouses to indie-minded breakouts to enduring legends who still rock our world, ELLE honors the women in music sounding off in 2011
On writing hits:
“I do! Why wouldn’t you want that many people listening to the songs that you wrote? There’s no way to go back after you have had it. So the intentions of even the solo records were always about trying to write those guilty-pleasure albums that just get in your head and you can’t get out. I’m not cool, I’m not into the B-sides. Prince, who is one of my idols, gave me some advice when I worked with him: “Have you ever just tried writing a hit? Like, don’t just try writing a song, try and write a hit song.” I remember him saying that and me thinking, Yeah, you’re right. Why would you write anything else?”
On her marriage to Gavin Rossdale:
“The first time we ever kissed was right around Valentine’s Day—we were in New Orleans on tour. So, yeah, I always think about that because it’s unbelievable that we’ve been able to stay together. I feel so proud of us—it’s one of my biggest achievements.”
On performing while pregnant:
“It was horrible. Certain songs would make me want to puke. You feel pretty gross when you are first pregnant. You don’t feel cute, you feel disgusting. You’re getting fat. It was hard. I mean, I’m very vain. That would be my middle name. Of course I am, you know what I mean? I love the visual.”
On whether Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry have taken a page out of her playbook when it comes to style:
“Really? I don’t see myself in those girls. I usually put pants on. I see these girls as more going for the sex-symbol thing. I was more, in the band, like a tomboy. Of course, I think every girl is sexy, so there’s going to be a little of that. But I see a lot of younger artists going more toward the sexy thing.”
On pop music:
“When we were growing up, some of the hits were legendary ones that you hear your whole life. But certain songs, I don’t know if you’ll ever hear them again. Because that’s what that music is, like a guilty pleasure, it’s right at the moment. It’s like fashion—it’s now, then it’s gone.”
To read the complete interview, pick up the May issue of ELLE, on newsstands Now!
2011 Grammy Awards nominations were announced. Rihanna is nominated for 4 Grammy Awards. Rihanna already won 3 awards: one for “Umbrella” and two for “Run this Town”.
Here are the categories that Rihanna is nominated in:
♥ Best Dance Recording: Only Girl (In The World) ♥ Record Of The Year: Love The Way You Lie ♥ Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Love The Way You Lie ♥ Best Short Form Music Music Video – Love The Way You Lie
Eminem Leads 53rd GRAMMY Nominations
Eminem leads the race with ten nominations including Record of The Year, Song of The Year and Best Rap for his global smash ‘Love The Way You Lie’ with Rihanna, while his comeback album ‘Recovery’ is up for Album of The Year. Bruno Mars is the next on the nominations tally with seven nods. Cee LoGreen‘s ever-popular ‘Fuck You’ is up for three major Grammy’s including Record of The Year, Song of The Year and Best Urban/Alternative.
Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are up against each other in four major categories – Album of The Year, Best Pop Album, Best Female Pop and Best Pop Collaboration.
Gaga’s ‘Fame Monster’ will challenge Katy’s ‘Teenage Dream’ in the album categories while their singles “Bad Romance” and “Teenage Dream” face off for the Best Female Pop song. Elsewhere, Gaga and Beyoncé’s almighty “Telephone” is up against Katy and Snoop Dogg’s “California Gurls” in the Best Pop Collaboration category.
In the R&B categories, Fantasia has been nominated for three including Best Female R&B, Best R&B song and Best R&B album – where she’s up against Monica‘s ‘Still Standing’.
Beyoncé hasn’t dropped any new music in 2010 but she’s still being nominated for her ‘I Am… Yours’ live disc, which saw her performance of “Halo” qualify for the Best Female Pop category.
♥RECORD of THE YEAR:
“Nothing on You” by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem feat. Rihanna “Fuck You” by Cee Lo Green “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum
♥ALBUM of THE YEAR:
‘The Fame Monster’ by Lady Gaga ‘Teenage Dream‘ by Katy Perry ‘Recovery’ by Eminem ‘The Suburbs’ by Arcade Fire ‘Need You Now’ by Lady Antebellum
♥SONG of THE YEAR:
“Fuck You” by Cee Lo Green “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem feat. Rihanna “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert “Beg Steal or Borrow” by Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs
♥BEST NEW ARTIST:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding
♥BEST FEMALE POP:
“Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry “Halo (Live)” by Beyoncé “King of Anything” by Sara Bareilles “Chasing Pirates” by Norah Jones
♥BEST MALE POP:
“This Is It” by Michael Jackson “Whataya Want From Me” by Adam Lambert “Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars “Half of My Heart” by John Mayer
♥BEST POP COLLABORATION:
“Telephone” by Lady Gaga& Beyonce “California Gurls” by Katy Perry &Snoop Dogg “Airplanes Part II” by B.o.B, Eminem &Hayley Williams “If It Wasn’t For Bad” by Elton John & Leon Russell “Imagine” by Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck and Oumou Sangare
♥BEST POP ALBUM:
‘The Fame Monster’ by Lady Gaga ‘Teenage Dream’ by Katy Perry ‘My World 2.0’ by Justin Bieber ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ by Susan Boyle ‘Battle Studies’ by John Mayer
♥BEST DANCE RECORDING:
‘Dancing On My Own’ by Robyn ‘Dance In The Dark’ by Lady Gaga ‘Rocket’ by Goldfrapp ‘In For The Kill’ by La Roux ‘Only Girl (In The World)’ by Rihanna
♥BEST FEMALE R&B:
‘Everything to Me’ by Monica ‘Bittersweet’ by Fantasia ‘Tired’ by Kelly Price ‘Holding You Down (Going In Circles)’ by Jazmine Sullivan ‘Gone Already’ by Faith Evans
♥BEST MALE R&B:
‘There Goes My Baby’ by Usher
‘We’re Still Friends’ by Musiq Soulchild ‘Why Would You Stay’ by Kem ‘Finding My Way Back’ by Jaheim ‘Second Chance’ by El DeBarge
♥BEST R&B BY DUO/GROUP:
‘Soldier of Love’ by Sade ‘Shine’ by John Legend and The Roots ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ by Ronald Isley and Aretha Franklin ‘Love’ by Chuck Brown, Jill Scott and Marcus Miller ‘Take My Time’ by Chris Brown and Tank
♥BEST R&B SONG:
“Bittersweet” by Fantasia “Finding My Way Back” by Jaheim “Second Chance” by El DeBarge “Shine” by John Legend and The Roots
“Why Would You Stay” by Kem
♥BEST CONTEMPORARY R&B ALBUM:
The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monae Raymond V Raymond by Usher Transition by Ryan Leslie Untitled by R Kelly Graffiti by Chris Brown
♥BEST R&B ALBUM:
‘Still Standin’g by Monica ‘Back to Me‘ by Fantasia ‘Wake Up!‘ by John Legend & The Roots ‘Another Round’ by Jaheim ‘The Love & War Masterpeace’ by Raheem DeVaughn
Tune In: The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 13, 2011. The nominees compilation album will be in stores January 28, 2011.
Rihanna will be the opening act for this year’s American Music Awards, according to Rap-Up.com and Universal Music.
Rihanna has been nominated for “Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist” along with Alicia Keys and Sade.
Also announced to perform are; Usher, P!nk, and Bon Jovi.
The 38th annual AMAs will air live on Sunday, November 21st, at 8 p.m. on ABC, which will be 5 days before her most anticipating album release for ‘LOUD’.
Rihanna is pre-nominated in three category for Favorite Female Artist , Favorite Song (“Love The Way You Lie“) & Favorite Pop Artist .
Cast your votes for Rihanna now! Vote HERE for Favorite Female Artist Vote HERE for Favorite Song Vote HERE for Favorite Pop Artist
Rihanna’s Doritos Commercial Details
Rihanna’s Doritos commercial was supposed to come out on October 15, but it actually got released yesterday (Tuesday, October 19).
According to AccessHollywood.com & JustJared.com;
AccessHollywood.com: It may look like a music video for “Who’s That Chick?”, but Rihanna’s new video is what’s known as an augmented reality music experience where online viewers can choose between Rihanna’s bright and colorful light side or her sexy and sassy dark side. So how is Doritos making it happen? The only way to experience Rihanna and David Guetta’s “Who’s That Chick?” track and videos is through DoritosLateNight.com beginning on Oct. 19.
According to JustJared.com: Rihanna has a new Doritos commercial coming out later this month.
“There’s this new pop-up video technology called augmented reality. There will be a barcode on the Doritos chip bags, you go home and hold it up to your computer and a video will pop up. We shot the exact video twice – one in day, one in night. So the night version has everything different — it has everything is in the day version, it’s just black and gray. It’s darker and grittier. You’ll be able to click at any time and make it night and the same shot will show up just in the night version. It’s cool.”
When asked which version is more her now, Rihanna responded, “More of the day version. Only because I’ve started to incorporate a lot of different colors into my wardrobe now. I’m loving that direction. Right now, it feels good and right. It was a cool concept too because it was kind of one side of me and now, it’s evolving into the new colorful stuff that we’ve been doing.”
As for her favorite Doritos flavor, Rihanna loves Spicy Nacho. “I just like spicy chips; So of course that would be my favorite one… One of my make-up artists [Mylah Morales] and I carry around chili all the town. It’s sickening. I eat everything with red pepper.”
Check out the video for Rihanna’s “Who’s That Chick” Behind The Scenes
More Doritos Late Night Promotional Photos below….
Rihanna & Eminem- “Love The Way You Lie, Part 2”
Rihanna and is currently working with Eminem again, after their recent success of their single “Love the Way You Lie” – with the pair reportedly planning a sequel track.
She explained: “Eminem is a genius. He’s one of the cleverest poets around right now. His lyrics are unique. He tells a story, but in a very interesting way. I’d love to collaborate with him again. Actually, we’ve already been talking about it.”
The Alex Da Kid-produced song will appear on Rihannas’s forthcoming album ‘LOUD’, which drops in stores November 16th.
In the song “Love The Way You Lie (Part 2)“, Rihanna sings,
“Even angels have their wing cut schemes, and you take that to new extremes, but you will always be my hero, even though you lost your mind.”
No Collabo for Rihanna & Lady Gaga on ‘Loud’
The pop star Lady Gaga will not be featured on Rihanna‘s new album ‘Loud‘ despite the rumors which have been circulating for most of this week.
However, a spokesperson for Rihanna has branded the artwork a fake and told entertainment blog JustJared.com that the Umbrella songstress has not teamed up with Lady Gaga.
If the two pop heavyweights have collaborated, recent comments from Rihanna may have damaged their working relationship.
The Bajan beauty slammed Lady Gaga’s out-there sense of style, saying it is ‘boring’.
“A lot of people dress like Lady Gaga now. I’ve just stepped off into a whole new look and style,’ she said, adding: ‘The whole shoulder pad thing and the architectural look is so sharp-edged and tough. I’m over that.”
“I like floral prints now, which I never liked. Trends are boring,” she continued.
Rihanna is also rumored to be working on a duet with another pop superstar, Katy Perry.
‘I love Katy’s music! That’s why I wanna make a duet with her. We’re already working on it,’ she said earlier this month.
Her comments came after she slammed Katy and Lady Gaga’s music for being ‘generic’ during an interview with BBC Radio 1.
Check out the video below….
However, she later backtracked, saying she meant to criticize the producers who give all female artists the same type of songs.
Rihanna Wants To Work With Cheryl Cole
A source told The Sun newspaper:
“Rihanna is desperate to work with Cheryl. She fell in love with Cheryl’s single “Parachute”, from her debut solo album ‘3 Words’. She listens to it in her car the whole time.
“Rihanna really wants to record a track with Cheryl – and already has one in mind that she’s convinced she will love.”
The 22-year-old Barbadian also admitted she is in awe of Cheryl, who she thinks is “the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen“.
She said: “She is awesome, I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Like, how do you have a face like that, with hair like that and dimples, and a body like that, that’s proportioned like that. And you have a successful career, something about that is not right!”
Below is a list of her possible upcoming appearances so far.
CONFIRMED APPEARANCES:
Oct — | Doritos Campaign Kick Off
Oct 26 | Rihanna’s book release
Oct 27 | Book signing in NYC
Oct 30 | Saturday Night Live
Nov 16 | LOUD release (album)
Nov 17 | GMA Fall Concert Series
Nov 21 | American Music Awards – Intro performance
POSSIBLE APPEARANCES:
Nov 2 | Good Morning America
Nov 2 | The Late Show With David Letterman
Nov 4 | The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Nov 5 | Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Nov 15 |BET 106&Park
Dec 10 | Z10 Jingle Ball
— — | The View
UPCOMING MAGAZINES:
December 2010 – Marie Claire (UK)
Q Magazine (UK)
LAST GIRL ON EARTH TOUR – AUSTRALIA:
Feb 25, 2011 | Brisbane
Feb 28, 2011 | Newcastle
Mar 4, 2011 | Sydney
Mar 7, 2011 | Melbourne
Mar 8, 2011 | Melbourne
Mar 10, 2011 | Adelaide
Mar 12, 2011 | Perth
Source: The Sun Newspaper, Ultimate-Rihanna, JustJared.com, AccessHollywood.com, Rihanna-Daily.com
Rihanna gets into the Christmas spirit with her new reggae-inspired Christmas song, “A Child Is Born.” Christmas is still roughly two months away, but Rihanna had released a snippet of the new reggae-flavoured Christmas song back in September and let me start off by saying that it really got me into the Christmas spirit. It’s a huge change from the usual festive ballads, Rihanna has gone for an upbeat sound on the track.
The song is featured on a compilation album titled ‘Now That’s What I Call Christmas, Vol. 4,’ which was released yesterday (Tuesday, October 12).
The new album consists of 36 tracks, which will be split on 2 discs (No you don’t have to go out and buy two separate albums, they are both in one album). As for the other tracks included on the album, will include, Lady GaGa‘s “Christmas Tree”, Britney Spears‘ “My Only Wish (This Year),” Christina Aguilera’s “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” Kelly Rowland’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.
Rihanna had also recently announced that the song “Only Girl (In The World)” will be the first track to be taken from her next album “Loud”, which will be released in November.
‘I didn’t want to go backward and remake [2008 album] ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’. I wanted the next step in the evolution of Rihanna,’ she said during a webchat on her official website Rihannanow.com.
‘I’m gonna miss the [2009 album] ‘Rated R’ era too, but NOTHING compares to the album I just made.’
This is definitely Rihanna‘s moment to shine. She has been spotted globally everywhere promoting her new album ‘LOUD’. She has also just joined the Kodak team as its newest spokesperson for their ‘So Kodak’ campaign as well as the ‘Doritos Late Night’ campaign. You can now check her out gracing the the cover of Billboard Magazine. Below I have a few excerpts as well as photos magazine scans from her feature.
Excerpts after the jump….
It’s been just six weeks since Rihanna’s wax figure was unveiled, but already it needs a makeover. The creepily life-like sculpture, which assumed its place in Madame Tussaud’s Washington, D.C., outpost on Aug. 31, immortalizes the biker chick-meets-”Blade Runner” look that the pop star rocked this past winter: shoulder-padded blazer, airtight corset, shimmery makeup and a haircut that only she could pull off, part-buzz cut and part-blonde-streaked, sideways swoop.
But Rihanna has moved on since then, now sporting mostly shoulder-length, barrel-curled locks in a shade twice as fluorescent as fire-engine red. Her new look is less severe, more romantic. A day after the figure’s unveiling, a photograph of the Barbadian singer kissing her waxen self appeared on Twitter and made it abundantly clear how much she’s changed.
“A lot of people dress like Lady Gaga now. I’ve just stepped off into a whole new look and style,” Rihanna says calmly, phoning in just before a flight to London after a nonstop week of work and play in New York. “The whole shoulder pad thing, and the architectural look, is so sharp-edged and tough. I’m over that. I like floral prints now, which I never liked.
“Trends are boring,” she adds. “It’s boring to see everyone doing the same thing.”
On the bluntly titled, Stargate-produced and Ester Dean-penned “S&M,” for example, Rihanna proudly claims her vices: “I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it/Sex in the air, I don’t care, I love the smell of it/Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.” On “Cheers,” a twangy bar song that samples Avril Lavigne, she name-checks Jameson Irish whiskey and chants, “Cheers to the freakin’ weekend-drink to that!” “Man Down,” a reggae song featuring rap provocateur Nicki Minaj, turns her into the protagonist of her own murder fantasy. “I took his heart when I pulled out that gun . . . rum-puh-pah-pum, man down . . . oh mama, I just shot a man down.”
“At this point, there’s no denying that she’s more than a cool voice, a pretty face and a hot style,” says Stargate’s Tor Erik Hermansen, who with Mikkel Storleer Eriksen make up the Norwegian duo. “She has a swagger which is unbelievable.”
Hermansen says Rihanna pinpointed “Only Girl” as her lead single “the minute she heard the song. She picks and chooses everything, which to me is crucial. And she has good taste.”
“This is the truest Rihanna album yet because it sounds the most like her first one,” Reid continues. “[2005 debut single] ‘Pon De Replay,’ that was obviously Rihanna at her purest, with that Caribbean-flavored dance-pop music. After that, she went in many different directions only to find herself right back where she really started. Though I think the songs are much better now. Her growth as a vocalist is really evident.”
Rihanna Moves On from Chris Brown
While ‘Loud’ is a crucial album for Rihanna in the wake of lower-than-usual sales for ‘Rated R,’ Reid says the latter album was really her most pivotal. “The last one, to us, that was the one. She was brave. She was speaking what she felt at that moment, and it didn’t matter who came with a song that we thought was a hit. Every song had to tell the story she wanted to tell. ‘Loud’ is the album where she doesn’t have a point to prove. She can just have fun and be Rihanna.”
The singer wholeheartedly agrees. ” ‘Rated R’ showed that I wasn’t a shallow artist,” she says. “I have some depth. There was definitely some growth, going through that dark moment in my life.”
Rihanna never refers to her relationship with Brown in specifics and says she “definitely” prefers to let “Love the Way You Lie” speak for itself, which of course is made easier by the fact that it’s not on her own album. “It’s kind of like the closing to that chapter, and now we’re in a new stage,” she says.
“What happened in her personal life, the way she handled it and worked through it, is truly amazing,” Hermansen says. “As tragic as that was, just to see how she grew as a person and an artist, I think the whole world looked at that and said, ‘OK, this girl is no joke.’ ”
GETTING ‘LOUD’
This isn’t an accomplishment that her label takes lightly, though Reid believes there’s a catch. “She’s clearly multiformat, but the challenge is, which format is hers? As a recording artist, you can have a hit and be a visitor to each format, but to have true artistic success you have to own it. I think she owns rhythm and top 40, but we do suffer a little because we don’t have urban on lock. When you have a black girl from the islands, you want to have urban on lock. So one of the goals that we had was to not force that, but to try and make records we thought were hits and where she could shine.”
“The challenge is complicated when you’re making music that sonically appeals to a dance/top 40 audience,” WQHT (Hot 97) New York PD Ebro Darden says. “When Rihanna makes music that fits the appeal of hip-hop, we play it.”
Julie Pilat, assistant PD/music director for KIIS-FM Los Angeles, says that Rihanna’s multiformat appeal “seems like more of a strength than a weakness,” adding that the star is “welcomed with open arms wherever she goes.”
“I wanted songs that only I can do, not generic songs that everyone else could sing,” Rihanna says. Her collaborations with Dean went a long way in this regard, no doubt in part because both are young, successful female pop hitmakers of color in a heavily male-dominated field.
Dean, who specializes in rhythmic pop songs with a naughty streak (her most recent work includes Usher’s “Hot Toddy,” Katy Perry’s “Peacock” and “Firework,” and Aguilera’s “Not Myself Tonight”, co-wrote “S&M,” “Fading Away” and “What’s My Name,” which will be the second single off “Loud.” She says Rihanna’s biggest strength is that “she doesn’t try to sound like you; she sounds like herself. She’s not in there trying to figure out how she can beat you singing your song. She goes in there and says, ‘I’m going to sing this song because I fucking love it.’ ”
“She really captured me, everything I would say and how I would say it,” Rihanna says of Dean. “Some people get it halfway right. She just gets it and knows exactly what you want to hear.”
Rihanna may not do much of her own songwriting, but by all accounts she was more active than ever in guiding the creative choices for “Loud.” Writing camps took place several months ago in Los Angeles and Miami, where Rihanna, who nearly always uses “we” when discussing the making of her album, says about 100 writers and producers were invited to collaborate and craft songs for consideration. “We gave them guidelines and a bunch of topics,” she says. “We’d have 10 writers in one room and five writers in another room and put them with one producer, then split the group up and put them with another producer.”
“Obviously those are extreme conditions to create something under,” Hermansen says, “but we enjoyed the urgency of the whole project.”
Rihanna Hits the Studio With Drake
For her recent collaboration with Drake, a remix of “What’s My Name” that will appear on “Loud” as a bonus track, Rihanna personally presented the track to the Canadian MC. “She played the record to Drake backstage somewhere to try to get him on a verse,” Hermansen says. “She’s calling me up saying, ‘Where are the files?’ That’s one thing you don’t hear often from artists on her level.”
“Drake is the hottest rapper out right now,” Rihanna says, “and we’ve always been trying to work together. He’s the only person I thought could really understand the melody of the song, and the minute he heard it he said, ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do. I love it.’ And he did it like three days later.”
Much of the actual recording was done while Rihanna was on the road for her “Last Girl on Earth tour,” which kicked off in April in Europe and wrapped in August in the United States. (It will resume early next year in Australia.)
DIRECT TO FAN
Rihanna is the first to admit that making a personal connection with her fans hasn’t been her strong suit up to now. “I just felt like there was this big distance with us,” she says. “You know, they love me, they love how I dress and they move to my music, but they don’t really know who I am.”
That started to change in late August when Rihanna took over her Twitter account, which before had only been used to issue formal announcements. “No more corny label tweets!” she declared, and soon she was going even more direct, announcing the title of her new album in a live chat on fan site RihannaDaily.com. “I just got on there and started talking. Some of them didn’t believe that it was me, like, ‘Oh, fake Rihanna,’ ” she says of the first time she visited the chat. “So I got my best friend to Facebook RihannaDaily so they knew it was really me.”
Rihanna utilized Twitter and Facebook to debut her album cover at the end of September, posting partial images of the artwork on the social networks, then directing fans to her official website RihannaNow.com for the full reveal.
“Fan engagement is a huge driver for us,” IDJMG senior director of marketing Gabriela Schwartz says. “We had a lot of fun with our digital rollout for ‘Rated R,’ which was more about intrigue, countdowns, teasers and building anticipation. This is ‘Loud’ and it’s inclusive, it’s in your face and immediate, which is exactly what the album represents.”
As for other high-profile looks, Rihanna is booked to perform on ABC’s “Good Morning America” fall concert series Nov. 17, the day after “Loud” streets, and on the Halloween episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
For the first time, Rihanna is also delving into other sectors of the industry. She’ll launch her first fragrance, titled Reb’l Fleur (a play on words from a tattoo on her neck that reads “rebelle fleur” next spring, and she’s currently filming scenes for “Battleship,” an action movie directed by Peter Berg.
“My favorite part has been shooting in the ocean,” Rihanna gushes, sounding her most excited. “We were going at top speed, and I had to shoot this really badass weapon off the front of the boat. There was gunpowder all in my mouth by the time it finished.”
Rihanna has a stuntwoman for her more daring scenes, but per usual, she’s more likely to take charge. “They always want me to sit down when the dangerous stuff happens, but I am a control freak,” Rihanna says. “So I said, ‘No.’ She doesn’t do it like I would do it.”
Who is the world’s highest earning celebrity? Which power couple dominates the entertainment world? What pop star commands the most searches on the Internet? The new Guinness World Records 2011 edition out now reveals all this and more in its celebrity-filled pages.
As one of the most talked about pop stars in recent memory, it should come as no surprise that Lady Gaga earned two records for the new book – “Most Searched-For Female” on Google and “Most Weeks On UK Chart In Any Year” with an astounding 154 weeks.Gaga shares her place in the new book alongside two of music’s superstars – Jay-Z and Beyonce. Named the year’s biggest “Power Couple”, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Beyonce Knowles earned an astounding $122 million through June 2009.
In tribute to the “King of Pop”, the new Guinness World Records book features a special page devoted to Michael Jackson. The untimely death of MJ made the entertainer the “Most Searched-For Male” on the web and earned him several posthumous records reinforcing his spot at the top of the entertainment world. MJ, a fan of the Guinness World Records book, is a multiple record holder receiving eight over his lifetime for his chart achievements, album sales, earnings and charity donations.
This world renowned and celebrated annual, Guinness World Records 2011, contains the most comprehensive collection of the greatest and most amazing accomplishments from this past decade and beyond. A “must-have” for both knowledge-seekers and aspiring record-breakers of all ages, Guinness World Records 2011 is available September 15th for the suggested retail price of $28.95. For more information about Guinness World Records 2011, to find out how you can participate in Guinness World Records Day 2009 or to vote for your favorite records, visit their website at: www.guinnessworldrecords.com.
This time last year Complex Magazine’s Joe La Puma interviewed Kid Cudi for their Aug/Sept cover story that took an in depth look into Cudi’s life and music. This time around they’re back for another cover and a follow up that leads to an even better story.
Complex Magazine revealed the first cover for their October/November issue, and it features Kid Cudi making his second return to the Complex‘s front. The cover story with Cudi was also released and features an interview with Joe La Puma. Cudi takes the gloves off so to speak, and opens up about his new album, “Man On The Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager”. Cudi says the album is “dark, and smart explicit.” It’s no surprise since Cudi‘s music is exceptionally personal and authentic. His debut LP, which Complex named album of the year, is also one of many fans favorite for the emotion and passion Cudi channels through his songs. His experiences shape the music, and since the release of the first record, Cudi‘s definitely had a lot of tough ones. He’s been to jail, had a child, been kicked off tour with Lady Gaga, and struggled with drug abuse. He addresses all those things, and has some choice words for Wale and Perez Hilton in the Complex interview.
Check out some excerpts from the interview below after the jump….
About Wale:
“Then people like Wale get mad that ‘Ye ain’t give him no beats—’Ye ain’t give you no beats because we ain’t fucking with your raps. It’s not a conspiracy theory. We don’t fuck with you musically, so we’re not going to provide music for you. The shit is a service, it’s a quality of a certain standard. Niggas are just so thirsty it’s ridiculous. I’ve been eating humble pie forever, and people still call me an asshole. These people don’t know my fucking life—now I’m going to give them something to talk about.”
About Perez Hilton:
“Even Perez Hilton said some shit about me. He might be a good person and have a good heart, but he does a lot of fuckhead shit. Who are you to talk about people? That’s not cool. That’s why the world is so fucked up, because of hate. And he’s gay? I just don’t get that. The gay people I know are about peace and love and coming together. That shit doesn’t register with me. He’s a chump and a coward, and it’s fucked up because I met dude so many times and he had nothing but love to show me. Then when that shit happened with Lady Gaga kicking me off her tour, he had to run his mouth and judge me on that shit.”
On his drug use:
“I started doing cocaine to get through interviews, ’cause people wanted to know a lot about my personal life and I wasn’t prepared for a 60 Minutes interview every time. Doing bumps I was able to get through the day, but then I would smoke weed to calm me down—it was the only way I could get through the day without people noticing I was doing it.”
“I never thought it was a problem, but I was definitely high-fiving death a couple of times. It took a lot for me to talk about shit like this on the album. I don’t feel like I need to explain myself to anyone besides the fans. My fans don’t believe shit until they hear me say it. And those are true Kid Cudi fans. I want them to know the story.”
About his daughter:
“There’s another thing people don’t know. I have a daughter, born March 26th of this year. Her name is Vada, and she’s fucking awesome. That was eating me up, and it was stressing me out that nobody knew about her. I was trying to escape from that, too. Just trying to figure it out and make everyone happy, it’s a lot for somebody my age to handle. I was manning up and dealing with it in what I thought was the right way, but it was the wrong way. I want to be around for her. I can honestly say she was the wake-up call. The reality that it’s bigger than just you now—you have a responsibility and there’s no more time for mistakes. It’s time to stop fucking around.”
About Lupe Fiasco:
“Besides the fam, and Yeezy and Don C, there’s one artist in this game who has always had my back and had nothing but love to show, and that’s Lupe Fiasco. Every time I see that man, it’s nothing but love—I saw him a little after it, and he was like “I’m worried about you, man, just checking in.” He’s somebody who I know really genuinely gives a fuck. Noreaga also checked in.”
On Kanye x Cudi:
“Can I be honest with you? I don’t think anybody is fucking with what we—me and Kanye—got. Creatively, there’s nobody. You can argue all day about who has the best album, there’s never going to be an answer. There are other artists who are hot for God knows what reason. But as far as creativity, pound for pound, track for track, video for video, hands down, there’s nobody fucking with me and ‘Ye.”
Sunday night at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards the audience went Gaga over the night’s top nominee while Taylor Swift and Kanye West delivered performances that reflected on the infamous incident that put them both in the spotlight after last year’s VMAs. So who were the winners at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards?
Comedian Chelsea Handler, who admitted she was “high as a kite”, hosted the 27th annual VMAs, rocking a house on her head as she made her grand entrance on to the stage. Her monologue included the obligatory disses. After giving a nod to the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore, Handler told the audience, “Don’t applaud- they’re the reason MTV doesn’t play your videos.”
Musical guests at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards included Eminem, Rihanna, Usher, Justin Bieber, Florence and the Machine, Drake, Mary J. Blige, Swizz Beats, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park and Kanye West.
Lady Gaga accepted the Best Female Video Award from comedian Ellen DeGeneres. Gaga told her fans, “Tonight, little monsters, we’re the cool kids at the party.” And as Gaga accepted several awards throughout the evening, her constant costume changes kept things interesting. She also announced the title of her new album- “Born This Way”.
Eminem was also a big winner, but jetted from L.A.’s Nokia Theatre before accepting any of his awards. His show at Yankees Stadium was slated for today and he had to hit the road.
Let’s break it down!
The night opened up with Eminem performing his comeback hit “Not Afraid”, which lead into a surprise appearance by Rihanna for “Love the Way You Lie”. Looking a lil Courtney Love circa 1995, but much cuter.
Hearing Rihanna’s voice come out of the blue and very unexpected gave me chills in a good way.
It was definitely nice to see her and Eminen performing together on stage. Definitely one of my picks for best performances of the night.
DOPE breakout song of the year.
Justin Bieber put on an a semi-good performance with great dancers, a cool drum solo and confetti. He gets kudos for reacting fast to losing a drum stick. He had a quick recovery during his solo.
Next on stage was Justin’s mentor, Usher. His medley of “DJ Got Us Falling in Love”/”OMG ” was not my favorite performance to be honest. He barely sang anything. He sounded really bad and I was not a fan of the dancing. The ninja dancers descending from the ceiling were fun, but there wasn’t really anything memorable about the performance.
In my opinion Usher flopped this one.
Now was it me or were the majority of these performers lip synching? That was really starting to piss me off about the whole show.
Good punch line moment was when, Katy Perry hands Nicki Minaj the VMA Moon Man award and tells the rapper that’s she found her a “stiff man”.
I needed the laugh and that to me was funny!
Florence and the Machine may have sung her hit song “Dog Days Are Over”, but what she should have been singing was “Underdog Days Are Over”. She was definitely one who had a great performance. While much of the music world has finally started to take notice of the phenom that is FATM, mainstream music listeners have only just started to see the singer on their radar. Florence showed the MTV VMAs what real singing is all about.
She sang her ass off….GREAT!!
Now off to the best collabo performances of the night besides Eminem & Rihanna‘s performance. I have to hand it over to the next performers of the night.
Bruno Mars got everyone hyped for his upcoming album when he and B.o.B. performed their huge hit “Nothin’ on You“. B.o.B. kept the momentum going while performing his joining of two worlds collabo for “Airplanes” with Paramore’s Haley Williams.
Williams is super dope and has some serious swag.
Williams ended the performance while taking it back to her roots and performing with her band under a skyline of floating lightbulbs. This trifecta performance was likely was off of most people’s radar and yet delivered the most impressive talent of the night.
Drake got all “Fancy huh“, while rocking a white tuxedo jacket. His surprise guests consisted of Mary J Blige andSwizz Beatz. It was something expected from Drake, since he’s been on some serious hype lately. He’s everywhere! It was a good mood booster a very nicely high-energized performance.
Justin Bieber took home the moon man for Best New Artist award, but got a bit confused and couldn’t figure out how to get on the stage.
Linkin Park performed their song “Catalyst” off-location on the top of the Griffith Observatory. Good performance.
Last night was Lady GaGa’s night at the 2010 MTV VMA’s as she won 8 awards including “Video Of the Year.” GaGa rocked three crazy pieces of fashion, all of which seemed to be ones that she appeared in recently in magazine pictorials.
Later the legendary Cher took the stage, calling herself “the oldest chick with the biggest hair and the littlest outfit”. She also said she had shoes older than most of the VMA nominees.
Cher still looks good for her age. She still can rock a see-through outfit and not give a damn about what anybody says.
Cher presented Lady Gaga with the award for Best Video of the Year.
A well-deserved win for Gaga.
After shedding tears of joy, GaGa was emotional and moved by the win that she even went as far as telling fans the album title for her next album. She scratched the plans of a New Year’s album title announcement and just blurted the three worded title. The album title for her next album will be called, “Born This Way”.
Now what was the deal with her meat dress? Really Gaga? I thought it was a bit way out of the box, but with Gaga you never really know what to expect.
She’s still DOPE!!
Now for the most anticipated, what I should be saying the most talked about performances of the night go out to Taylor Swift & Kanye West.
What a Difference a Year Makes…
A year after Kanye West stormed the VMA stage, stealing Taylor Swift‘s thunder as she accepted her award for best female video, the rapper was back on the VMA stage to make amends…
But first, Taylor Swift showed a mature and much more solemn side of herself. Swift performed her new song, “Innocents”, off her yet to be released album ‘Speak Now’. The song was penned about West‘s infamous interruption of Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at last year’s VMAs. The video clip of the incident played at the beginning of her performance, making it clear who and what she was singing about. But the lyrics “32 and still growing up now” and “who you are is not what you did” seemed to offer forgiveness to the rapper. The song, forgiving West of his rudeness, is one of Swift’s strongest songs lyrically to date.
Now off to Mr. West…
Asis Ansari’s introduction for Kanye West should have been funny. It had all the makings to be a classic Ansari funny moment, but fell short. Like, really short.
Thankfully, Kanye’s performance did not fall short.
West ended the night on a high with his own pennance, delivering a song called “Runaway”, an ode to being a “d—-bag’ and offering a toast to “scumbags”.
Even more shocking?
Taylor Swift was nowhere in sight. While both artists had their performances slightly overshadowed by the anticipation of a possible cameo from one another, neither Swift nor West collaborated on either performance. A positive reuniting of the two music powerhouses would have easily been the show-stealer.
That definitely would have been the icing on the cake, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.
Lets not talk about the pre-show performance. Nicki Minaj & Will.i.am?! WACK as hell, now don’t get me wrong I am a fan of the both of them, but I feel the performance could have been superfly and it just went down the drain for me. I was not impressed. Sorry guys. This is just my opinion.
Oh and lets not forget Will.i.am’s black face and Nicki’s outfit. WTF was that?!! Bad, bad, bad fashion choices.
Major Winners at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards:
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“California Gurls” – Katy Perry
“Video Phone (extend remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga”Fifteen” – Taylor Swift “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST ROCK VIDEO
“Ignorance” – Paramore
“Flash Delirium” – MGMT “Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars-WINNER
BEST MALE VIDEO
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“In My Head” – Jason Derulo “Not Afraid” – Eminem – WINNER
BEST POP VIDEO
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“Nothing on You” – B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“Forever” – Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem
“Pursuit Of Happiness” – Kid Cudi featuring MGMT & Ratatat “Not Afraid”-Eminem – WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
“Tik Tok” – Ke$ha
“In My Head” – Jason Derulo
“Massive Attack” – Nicki Minaj featuring Sean Garrett
“The Ghost Inside” – Broken Bells “Baby” – Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris – WINNER
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars
“Not Afraid” – Eminem “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST COLLABORATION
“Airplanes” – B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams
“Telephone” – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
“My First Kiss” – 3OH!3 featuring Ke$ha
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST DANCE MUSIC VIDEO
“Evacuate The Dancefloor” – Cascada
“OMG” – Usher featuring Will.I.Am “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST ART DIRECTION
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga “Dog Days Are Over” – Florence and the Machine – WINNER
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
“Telephone” – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
“Video Phone (Extended Remix)” – Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga
“OMG” – Usher featuring Will.I.Am
“Tightrope” – Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga – WINNER
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Little Lion Man” – Mumford and Sons
“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – WINNER
BEST DIRECTION
“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Kings and Queens” – 30 Seconds To Mars “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga-WINNER
BEST SFX (SPECIAL EFFECTS)
“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day
“Symphonies” – Dan Black
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“Not Afraid” – Eminem “Uprising” – Muse – WINNER
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO
“Symphonies” – Dan Black
“Stylo” – Gorillaz featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def
“Strawberry Swing” – Coldplay “Tighten Up” – The Black Keys-WINNER
Check out the photos and videos below…
Eminem & Rihanna
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
Kanye West
What do you think of the MTV VMAs 2010 Winners list for the Video Music Awards?
Sunday night marked the 2010 BET Awards, hosted by Queen Latifah, and an all-star roster of celebrities presented, performed, and took home top honors.
Between Prince‘s Lifetime achievement award and Queen Latifah running the show, there was plenty of royalty at last night’s 10th anniversary of the BET Awards. But in the midst of the performances of accolades, the stage was also set for a few big names to make their comebacks.
Jermaine Jackson announced the first return of the evening when he introduced the tribute to his late brother, thanking everyone for their love and support over the past year. He added, “There is one tribute performance we have yet to see…here he is.”
Chris Brown was poised behind the curtain, looking like the silhouette of Michael Jackson himself. Once he came out, there was a palpable moment of tension so strong, it could almost be felt through the TV.
Brown crotch-grabbed and moon-walked his way like a pro through the Michael Jackson songs as a supportive audience cheered him on.
But then the opening bars from “Man in the Mirror” began to play, and we all braced for the irony of the words. Brown got through about one line of the song before his voice started to quiver with tears. After a few heartfelt efforts to regain composure, Brown fell to his knees sobbing and completely gave up trying to sing as the backup track took over.
But Brown wasn’t the only one returning to the stage: Kanye West opened the show on top of a mountain – literally – as he performed his latest single, “Power.” T.I gave an upbeat performance that had the whole crowd moving, and El DeBarge was also a surprising treat as he performed a new song from his upcoming album and a medley of his R&B hits.
Queen Latifah kept the show flowing as she changed outfits about 500 times, and Alicia Keys also had a good night. She won Best Female R&B artist, Best Collaboration for her work with Jay-Z in “Empire State of Mind,” and also fit in two performances: a medley set of her own songs early on in the program, and then she joined in the Prince tribute.
But probably the best Prince performance of the night came from the one and only Patti LaBelle, who sang “Purple Rain” like we’ve never heard it before. LaBelle flicked her shoes off into the audience where Prince picked one of them up and gestured in respect to the diva.
LaBelle came back and joined Chaka Khan on stage to formally present Prince with his Lifetime Achievement Award.
Overwhelmed by the amount of praise coming from the audience, Prince asked everyone to sit down and said he was “speechless.” He started by thanking Jehovah, and then remarked on the future of music. “I do believe the future is in good hands, there is so much talent here,” he said.
Then Prince offered some words of wisdom to the young talent in the room. “I was pretty wild in my younger days and you don’t have to do what I did and you don’t have to make the mistakes I made,” he said. “Thank you for a wonderful night tonight, I’ll never forget it as long I live.”
Trey Songz took home Best Male R&B Artist and Drake won Best Male Hip Hop Artist. Nicki Minaj received the award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist and thanked the female rappers who paved the way for her.
Rihanna received the coveted Viewer’s Choice Award for “Hard,” but was not there to accept it. Also not there to accept Awards were Beyonce’ and Lady Gaga, who won Video of the Year for their collaboration in “Video Phone,” and Jay-Z was absent from the show as well.
Chris Brown had the last word, at least for the night. After his Jackson tribute, he was announced as the surprise winner of BET’s Fandemonium award, a prize determined by fan votes, beating out apparent favorites like Justin Bieber, Trey Songz and Nicki Minaj.
Stepping to the stage to receive his trophy, Brown gave a quick acceptance speech. “I let you all down before, but I won’t do it again,” he said. “I promise you.”
Here’s a breakdown of all the winners…
Winners included:
Viewers’ Choice: Rihanna (not at awards ceremony)
Best Female R&B Artist: Alicia Keys
Best Male R&B Artist: Trey Songz
Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj
Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Drake
Best New Artist: Nicki Minaj
Best Group: Young Money
Video of the Year: Beyonce and Lady Gaga for “Video Phone” (not at awards ceremony)
Best Actress: Mo’Nique
Best Actor: Idris Elba
Best Movie: Precious
Sportsman of the Year: Lebron James
Sportswoman of the Year: Serena Williams
Prince also won a Lifetime achievement award and John Legend won a humanitarian award.
The show’s top performances were given by Chris Brown, who paid tribute to Michael Jackson and ended sobbing on stage during “Man In The Mirror,” and Patti LaBelle’s cover of “Purple Rain” in honor of Prince.
Below is a video from Chris Brown’s Michael Jackson Tribute:
Alicia Keys Tribute to Prince:
Source: CNN, BET, YOUTUBE
~ “Alicia Keys’ performance had me at the edge of my seat when she climbed on top of her piano. I was so nervous that she wouldn’t fall, even Prince looked nervous. As for Chris Brown, I was so excited to see him perform, and hear how the crowd cheered him on. It was one of the best performances I saw. He really knows how to break down Michael Jackson’s moves. Welcome back Chris Brown.”
Sixth-grader Greyson Michael Chance [Bieber who?] performs a chick-magnetized version of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” in a pit of lip-biting, face-touching young women. lol.
Last night was Lady GaGa’s night at the 2010 MTV VMA’s as she won 8 awards including “Video Of the Year.” GaGa rocked three crazy pieces of fashion, all of which seemed to be ones that she appeared in recently in magazine pictorials.
JNEL & J. Magazine 
