by staff on February 15th, 2012 at 10:23 am in Music
Nicki Minaj, "Starships." Following two lackluster promo singles meant to bolster the rapper/singer's hip-hop bona fides, Nicki Minaj isn't taking any chances with the official lead single from her forthcoming sophomore album. The Red One-produced "Starships" aims to reprise the success of Onika's crossover smash "Super Bass," similarly mixing her signature rapid-fire verses with a pre-chorus and main hook on loan from just about every Eurotrash song on the radio right now. The track begins with a guitar riff that sounds nearly identical to that of Jessie J's lame "Domino," but ultimately has more in common with Rihanna's "We Found Love"; both songs' verses and hooks seemingly exist solely to serve their stadium-house breakdowns. Lyrically, "Starships" is about as inconsequential as they come: "Fuck who you want and fuck who you like" is as deep as it gets—and that's only icing on this hot-pink, multi-tiered gay wedding cake. Sal Cinquemani
by staff on February 6th, 2012 at 11:36 am in Music
RECORD OF THE YEAR
"Rolling in the Deep," Adele (WILL WIN)
"Holocene," Bon Iver
"Grenade," Bruno Mars
"The Cave," Mumford & Sons
"Firework," Katy Perry
Sal Cinquemani: Predicting the top three catgories this year seems suspiciously easy. I can't see any of these songs upsetting Adele's inevitable sweep, except maybe Katy Perry, and I'm only saying that because I feel obligated to write more than 10 words here. Jonathan Keefe: Rocket Tits is my new Black-Eyed Peas in the sense that, after writing these Grammy predictions for the past five years, I've run out of creative ways to convey the depth of my absolute, utter loathing of her and her execrable music. Eric Henderson: As someone who nearly earned myself a toaster oven in a karoke contest busting hip rolls to "Teenage Dream," I can't fully sign off on your malcontent, but that song still represents the sole time Perry's formula struck on something winsome and enduring. "Firework," in contrast, is as arch and addicted to whip-its as anything else in her catalogue, and ergo hypocritical because of it. That still places it one notch above the smarmy nothingness that is "Grenade" though. Continue Reading »
This Sunday, Maya Arulpragasam is going to the Super Bowl, which is like Harold Bloom going to Disney World. It's hard to imagine M.I.A. having much fun at America's premiere chauvinist orgy of consumption, and her recent interview with BBC's Radio 1 suggests she was still trying to psych herself up for the event. "If you're gonna go the Super Bowl," she told Zane Lowe, "you might as well go with America's biggest female icons." And indeed, it's somewhat gratifying to think of M.I.A., Nicki Minaj, and Madonna unleashing the hot pink stinker that is "Give Me All Your Lovin'" on the most hallowed ground of American masculinity, during a halftime show typically dedicated to the geezer-rock pantheon. Ultimately, though, not even M.I.A. can make playing the Super Bowl sound badass or defiant. Walking into the epicenter of the American media to sing and dance between millions-per-minute car commercials with two thoroughly mainstreamed pop stars can mean only one thing, and that's that you yourself must also be a pop star. Continue Reading »
"Have you ever watched a dog vomit and then immediately lap it up?" That was one of the only notes I made after a demo of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," leaked last November. I can't be 100% certain where I was going with that indelible image, but it seems instructive, perfectly encapsulating the essence of Madonna's music career as she approaches the end of her third decade as a pop star. Indeed, the very title of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" tells you all you need to know about Madge's primary purpose for continuing to make music today. That might sound cynical, but for the last few years, the Queen of Pop has been peddling a brand, not necessarily art, regurgitating the same themes and images and asking us to continue to consume them, no questions asked. After all, what were songs like "4 Minutes" and "Celebration" if not commercials for Madonna Inc.? Continue Reading »
[Editor's Note: "The Blender" is a new series dedicated to highlighting notable new releases in the mixtape world.]
Behind the Music budgets 30 minutes to Missy Elliott's dire childhood, 10 to her mid-career weight loss, and approximately 10 to that glorious stretch of singles, albums, and videos wherein the rigid logics of sexism and realism were cast off in a hysterical outpouring of galvanizing cartoon libido. The epochal Miss E…So Addictive-Under Construction-This Is Not a Test! run? Cynically consigned to footnote status. Meanwhile, the needlessly prolonged Nicki-Kim spat has cleared up just in time for no less a nobody than Lil Mama to start her own promotional catfight with Ms. Minaj (the alleged beef is, I believe, wig-related). Adding insult to insult, Minaj has been tapped as a tour opener for Britney Spears, a woman who has never exerted much control over her own career, and whose most recent rehabilitation has been brought to you by the charity of, among others, Robyn, Ke$ha, Rihanna, and Minaj herself. Continue Reading »
by staff on November 24th, 2010 at 9:44 am in Music
[Editor's Note: House Playlist is a new series dedicated to highlighting our favorite new singles, leaked songs, and album tracks. Found something we should hear? Let us know!]
Nicki Minaj featuring Eminem, "Roman's Revenge." The standout track from Nicki Minaj's debut, Pink Friday, is a duel for the ages. Well, not a duel so much as a tag team, with Minaj's alter ego/"twin sister" Roman and Slim Shady trading combative verses—not at each other, but at rival female rappers (rumors are that Minaj's second verse is directed at Lil Kim) and…some chick who stole Eminem's music, apparently. Em's trademark misogyny is back with a vengeance (he boasts about tying up said music pirate to a bed and pissing on her), as is his homophobia (early on he passes up the chance to rhyme "attack it" with "faggots," but then goes on to use the word at the start of his second verse, claiming he's "no homo," all the while obsessing on his favorite subject: anal penetration). It would be all so yawn-inducing if Minaj and Eminem's rhymes weren't so tightly wound and if Swizz Beatz's programming, thick synths, and angelic choirs weren't so relentless. Sal Cinquemani
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