by Zara Golden

Carly Rae Jepsen Runs the MuchMusic Video Awards 2012

 

There are no maybes about it, Carly Rae Jepsen owned last night’s MuchMusic Video Awards. Performing early in Canadian music channel’s annual awards show, Jepsen sang her Billboard-topping “Call Me Maybe” from a giant, colorful telephone-shaped swing while wearing a too-cute TopShop dress. After picking up a hefty load of awards —the Video of the Year, the MuchMusic.com Most Watched Video, and the crowd-sourced UR Fave Video of the Year all for her “Call Me Maybe” video— she joined non-Canadian Flo Rida for “Wild Ones,” filling in for the absent You Oughta Know‘s Sia and proving herself more than “Maybe” capable.

Her “Wild Ones” cameo, though, was for many of us the first time hearing her do anything other than “Call Me Maybe.” If she hopes to be celebrated again in years to come, she will soon need to start harnessing some of the excitement around her into something new. Her EP Curiosity has yet to see release in the States, but has been well received in Canada — why not start not start with that, and in front of a hometown crowd?

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by Bené Viera

Drake Brings Out Dipset And (Maybe) Hypothetically Mentions The Chris Brown Fiasco At Jones Beach Performance

Drake Performs at Jones Beach in NY for Club Paradise Tour

Despite Drake’s recent involvement (or not) in a physical altercation with Chris Brown and camp, the show goes on. On Saturday Drake’s Club Paradise tour stopped at Jones Beach in NY where he performed in front of a crowd of 15,000 yelling fans. Earlier this week he promised them a second chance at Summer Jam. Unfortunately redoing Summer Jam didn’t mean YMCMB artists Nicki Minaj or Lil Wayne would come out as special guests. But Drake snagged the hottest upcoming rappers in the game–2 Chainz, Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill and A$AP Rocky–to open his show. Cam’ron, Juelz Santana and Jim Jones of Dipset also reunited. “This is something that I gotta do for New York,” he said right before bringing out the “We Fly High” rapper who was later joined by his former Harlem group members. Even on stage Drake remained tight lipped about the now infamous Chris Brown brawl. But per PopDust.com, he was subliminally referencing the incident that we hope doesn’t spiral out of control. Read more…

by Bené Viera

90s R&B And Hip-Hop Make A Come Back “This Time” With Melanie Fiona And J. Cole

It’s like the 90s R&B era all over again in Melanie Fiona’s “This Time,” and we’re loving it. For the traditional rhythm and bluesy record expressing how much better she’d be in the relationship if she had a do-over, she teamed up with Roc Nation rapper J. Cole for what feels like the nostalgic time when R&B and hip-hop collaborations saturated the airwaves. Not to compare Fiona to another artist as she’s rightfully owning her lane, but we couldn’t help but notice the Mary J. Blige “What’s the 411?” similarities. The baseball hat and oversized jacket? Totally a great nod to MJB. Read more…

by Zara Golden

Radiohead Stage Collapses, Killing One and Injuring Three Others

Summer concert season is upon us, which means that a lot of people will be seeing shows by their favorite bands in unusual venues. Unfortunately, this sometimes means that stages are erected so quickly that there isn’t always a great deal of time to double- and triple-check to ensure that all safety regulations have been met. To wit, a massive section of the stage collapsed at Toronto’s Downsview Park Saturday afternoon ahead of Radiohead‘s sold-out show there, killing Radiohead’s drum tech, Scott Johnson, and injuring three other crew members. It’s not yet clear exactly what happened, but the Ontario Ministry of Labor will investigate the collapse to see that safety regulations and standards were followed and that staff were probably trained.

Radiohead drummer Philip Selway paid tribute to Johnson on the band’s website. “We have all been shattered by the loss of Scott Johnson, our friend and colleague,” he wrote. “He was a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew. We will miss him very much. Our thoughts and love are with Scott’s family and all those close to him.”

The past year has seen a series of similar tragedies, notably a collapse at a Sugarland performance at the Indiana State Fair that left six dead, another at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, and a third at a Cheap Trick show at Ottawa’s Bluesfest.

Radiohead drum technician killed in stage collapse [AP]

[Photo: Getty Images]

by Zara Golden

VH1 Storytellers: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Has The “Medicine” We Want

Grace Potter of Grace Potter & The Nocturnals really does have the medicine that everyone wants; and this devastatingly good outtake of “Medicine” from their VH1 Storytellers session that aired tonight (PS: If you missed it, you can watch it online right now!) is everything that’s got us spinning. Over classic rock drum rolls and a come-hither guitar hook, Potter first weaves an alternative world wherein a gypsy woman with dark brown eyes and long black hair has put a spell on her man. “She’s crossing me with magnetic sand / She hypnotizes with her mojo hand,” she wails. Then, two-thirds of the way through, voice hushed, she shares her plan to take the other woman down “deep in the night, when no one’s around” and off we go!

The whole band comes together at the drums for an epic precision-jam break-down, from which Potter returns even more powerful than before. “I’ve got the medicine,” she shrieks as the song returns, even bigger and badder than before. How, really, could anyone compete with a vocalist and performer as riveting as Potter?

It’s eight-minutes long, but really, not long enough. And so it’s good that there is more where that came from.

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by Zara Golden

Jamie-Lynn Spears Sings A Song For Britney In Nashville

Jamie-Lynn Spears looks up to —and looks a whole lot like— her big sister in this video of her performing her a song, “I Look Up To You,” performed last night at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill. “You can imagine who I wrote it about,” she said, making no secret that it’s Britney she’s singing praise to. “I hope y’all like it a lot.”

“Scared little girl, sitting in a big old world,” she sings. “You’ve outgrown your room, it all happened way too soon. They took away your innocence, we forgot our strong defense.”

And so, for her history of breakdown and near demise, Jamie-Lynn sees a picture of — well, someone who very much needs a kind and nonjudgmental song like this. Jamie-Lynn doesn’t really get to the point of explaining what exactly she looks up to in Britney; rather, she mostly just sounds endlessly understanding, singing, “Whether you’re the sunlight shining down, or you hide behind a cloud, I look up to you.” It’s sweet gesture, even though it’s creepy that she looks so much like a pre-breakdown Britney while doing it. Not to mention, invoking her sister is also probably a helpful way to garner attention for her country singing career to-be.

Jamie-Lynn Spears’ First Country Song Is Probably About Her Sister [PopDust]
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by Bené Viera

In Honor Of Father’s Day We Present A Playlist Of Songs By Dads For Their Kids

Father's Day Spotify Playlist

New dad Jay-Z hit the studio to record a dedication song to his new baby girl, Blue Ivy. Hearing the baby cry on the track made it all the more adorable. Over the years a number of daddy musicians have expressed heartfelt feelings about their kids on wax. Everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Eminem to most recently Nas. Here at VH1 we believe dads are worthy of appreciation every day of the year. However, this Sunday is the official day we celebrate the awesome dads in our lives. Hearing male artists gush over their children in a song makes our hearts melt. Enjoy the Spotify playlist of our all-time favorite songs by fathers dedicated to their children.

1. “Daughters”- Nas
Nas gets real about the difficulties of raising a teenage daughter in this soulful ode to his daughter Destiny who makes a cameo at the end of the video. Read more…

by Zara Golden

VH1 Storytellers Stars Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Will “Never Go Back”

Here at VH1, we are letting Grace Potter & The Nocturnals drive us into the weekend.

This morning, the band dropped in Big Morning Buzz Live. Performing “Never Go Back,” the first single off of their fantastic The Lion the Beast the Beat. The song, as Potter has explained, was written with The Black Keys‘ Dan Auerbach in 45 minutes and is “one of those great rock and roll moments that I’ll never forget.”And probably neither will we, thanks to Potter’s cooly powerful vocals and those almost dangerous sounding guitars. Alive with rock and roll and glamor, their performance has us amped for the weekend when we will never go back to work no more (until at least Monday).

And tonight, you’ll want not to miss VH1 Storytellers: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals when it premiers tonight at 11 p.m. ET/PT. Check out the sneak-peak of them playing “Never Go Back” below and you’ll see why.

by Jim Shearer

Shearer’s Spotlight: Madonna’s Top 10 Titillating Moments

Madonna's Top 10 Titillating Moments

Each week here on VH1 Tuner, our VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown host Jim Shearer (@jimshearer on Twitter) will be sharing his Shearer’s Spotlight with us. Be sure to tune into the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown Saturday morning when it airs on VH1 at 9 a.m. ET/PT.

Every time Madonna releases a new album and subsequently tours in support of it, the following is sure to happen:

Somewhere in the world, a Madonna video is banned; a political/religious statement made by Madonna is denounced by a political/religious organization; Madonna’s age and/or overly fit arms are critiqued by a blogger who was still in grade school when Ray Of Light was released; and Madonna’s breasts will cause some type of uproar.

In honor of the latter, here are the Top 10 moments when Madonna’s boobs made news:

10. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
Just because the film was tamed down to cater towards Madonna’s teenage fan-base doesn’t mean the kids weren’t given a glimpse of Madonna’s soon-to-be-headline-grabbing breasts. While eating cheese curls on the pool-deck, Madonna wears a see-through bra.

9. Body Of Evidence (1993)
Madonna’s breasts star in this erotic rip-off of Basic Instinct as fans uneasily watch their favorite pop-star pour candle wax on William Dafoe’s nether regions.

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by Bené Viera

Is Chris Brown Really A Snitch For Talking To Police About His Brawl With Drake? [POLL]

Chris Brown Talks To NYPD About Fight With Drake

What’s a Twitter beef when you have the camps of two superstars like Chris Brown and Drake ready to go to battle for their boys? Wednesday night’s brawl in NYC that resulted in Brown’s chin gash, his security guard’s head cut, an innocent bystander hospitalized and a bunch of broken glass is turning out to be one huge messy headache. As details continue to unfold, Drake maintains his innocence claiming he was on his way out of the club when the fight broke loose. Meanwhile, TMZ reports Chris Brown is talking with New York Police Department detectives about the incident. Due to the physical evidence Brown has he very well may have a case against Drizzy Drake. Brown’s attorney, Mark Geragos, presented evidence to the NYPD Thursday night that Meek Mill and Drake were the aggressors. But Brown released Meek Mill of any wrongdoing with a tweet that has since been deleted from Brown’s timeline. According to TMZ, Brown spoke with detectives in an undisclosed location on Thursday. And now the snitching accusations have begun.

A quick search of “Chris Brown snitch” on Twitter yields a range of responses from “Chris Brown Is A Snitch: If I learned anything from The Wire it’s don’t be snitchin’” to “So not only is Chris Brown a woman beater, he’s a snitch too? Yo can we be done w this cat already?” Sigh freaking sigh. The “snitch” label is not surprising considering the “Stop Snitching” campaign that has been popularized by hip-hop. It’s street code ethics. But not really.

Although the media oftentimes inaccurately portrays the “stop snitching” mantra as a code in the black community that protects criminals, it’s a bit more complex. More than anything the anti-snitch notion hails from blacks long turbulent history and rightful mistrust of the police. It’s not that people simply want to protect criminals, it’s moreso that certain communities feel the police cannot protect them and aiding police may be their death sentence.

That begs the question: is Chris Brown a snitch? No, no and no again. Based on the facts—a bottle was thrown by someone in Drake’s entourage and Chris Brown was hit in the chin with said bottle— we can gather Brown was assaulted resulting in an injury. When normal, rationale people are assaulted they tend to call the police and file a police report. It’s really that simple. For those that believe he’s breaking some type of code, what would you have him do? Certainly people don’t believe two rich superstars should take matters in their own hands and perpetuate more violence, right? Right?

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