Chris Brown (Singer)

11 "Minor League Rappers" We Want To Hear on Hot 97

Last week Hot 97 Program Director Ebro Darden offered a weak explanation about his stations narrow playlist and why they don't play up-and-coming locals, saying--in so many words--that artists not getting spins on the station simply aren't ready for them. They're too underground. They haven't worked ... More >>

The Least Likely Music Headlines of 2013

For the last six months, the Sound of the City Supercomputer (a 1998 Compaq Presario) has been analyzing the structure and content of every pop news headline in the world in order to create a highly detailed predictive model of the music industry. While this project has important practical uses, suc ... More >>

MTV's Video Music Awards Enters The Post-Music-Video Era

Live: Jeremih Headlines Ladies Night At Webster Hall

Jeremih Webster Hall Thursday, September 6 Better than: Going to sleep and hoping that someone else got this story right. Generally speaking, I have no problem with a narrative. Artists influence artists, and sounds influence sounds. Sometimes an artist or a sound is so compelling or so right for ... More >>

Live: Pepsi Throws A Birthday Party For Michael Jackson; He's Unable to Attend

Bad 25: Ne-Yo, Melanie Fiona, Swizz Beatz Gotham Hall Wednesday, August 29 Better than: an easy hair-burning joke. "You just don't do a Michael song—you try and do the best you can." So said Ne-Yo, dabbing at his forehead, having sweated through his "Smooth Criminal" costume. On screens behi ... More >>

Let's Imagine What DJ Khaled's Kiss The Ring Will Sound Like

Despite every living rapper seemingly being just a phone call away, Miami radio personality/record executive/professional shouter DJ Khaled has never once put out a good album. He's been 0-for-5 (yes, DJ Khaled has released five albums), and Kiss the Ring, his sixth record, is on the horizon. Khal ... More >>

2 Chainz Brings His T.R.U. Story To The 40/40 Club

Last night at the 40/40 Club, during the listening session for 2 Chainz's debut Based On A T.R.U. Story (Def Jam), it became apparent that the Atlanta MC grew up watching What's Happening?—he kept insisting that he could feel someone recording his album in the crowd a la Rerun's run-in with th ... More >>

Seven Speaker-Shattering Busta Rhymes Guest Verses

Busta Rhymes will headline this year's 2012 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival with a performance down under the borough's namesake bridge on Saturday. With a stash of rap anthems that includes "Pass The Courvoisier," "Woo-Ha!! (Got You All In Check)," and "Hands Where My Eyes Can See," the big man's set is ... More >>

Drake Faces #YOLO Charges for SoHo Brawl with Chris Brown

When you send a note to someone that reads, "I'm fucking the love of your life, deal with it" it's most likely not going to end well. Especially if they had just bought you a bottle of champagne.Late Thursday night, at the swanky SoHo spot W.i.P., the entourages of R&B singer Chris Brown and rap ... More >>

Radio Hits One: Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, And Young Money Bring Crew Love Back To Rap Radio

If you've listened to much urban radio lately, or even a little, you may have noticed that Lil Wayne and his Young Money Entertainment labelmates, particularly Drake and Nicki MInaj, are quite popular. You may have also noticed the same thing in 2011. And in 2010. And 2009. But perhaps nothing under ... More >>

Spring Guide 2012: Vijay Iyer Brings Accelerando to Birdland

Duke meets Jacko

Radio Hits One: Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, And Other Urban Radio Staples Turn To Clappers

Lately, when I turn on a hip-hop station, I feel like I'm being applauded, and I don't always feel like returning the favor. I'm not referring just to the default use of handclaps (sampled or, more likely, emulated by drum machines) as snare drums in beats, which has been a common practice and has b ... More >>

The 11 Most Infuriating Songs Of 2011, No. 3: [White Person], [White Person Cutely/Seriously Performing Urban-Radio Hit]

The Songs: Karmin, "Super Bass" and "Look At Me Now" and way too many others; Mac Lethal, "Cook Wit Me Now"; Jackson Foote and friends, "Get Low"; Sophia Grace, "Super Bass"; probably more that are shooting up the Reddit charts right now. The Crimes: Anti-pop snobbery; humorlessness in the name of ... More >>

The 11 Most Infuriating Songs Of 2011, No. 8: Tyler, The Creator, "Bitch Suck Dick"

The Song: Tyler, The Creator, "Bitch Suck Dick" The Crimes: Ugh. There really is no winning when one discusses the output of Tyler, The Creator, the leader of the West Coast hip-hop collective Odd Future, a skateboard-riding LA dude who this year showed the world that he loved the Neptunes and his ... More >>

Underwhelmed And Overstimulated, Part Seven: The Sorrows (And Fantastic Sound System) Of Young Drake

Shhh... He's thinking. ​Sound of the City's year-end roundtable, with contributions from Tom Ewing, Eric Harvey, Maura Johnston, Nick Murray, and Katherine St. Asaph, continues. Follow along here. Look, it's what I've been dreading talking about all year! Anyway. For the past hour, Maura, I'v ... More >>

Live: Frank Ocean Returns To The Bowery Ballroom For The First Time

​Frank Ocean Bowery Ballroom Sunday, November 27 Better than: Canceling an hour before showtime. This March, Frank Ocean released the free mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra on Tumblr, and it was subsequently passed around like a sex tape, picking up steam with every like, every reblog, every retweet, ... More >>

Live-Blogging The 2011 American Music Awards: We Could Have Had It All (But Then Adele Had To Go Have A Vocal Cord Hemorrhage)

Welcome to Sound of the City's liveblog of the 2011 American Music Awards, the annual salute to the most popular popular music that exists in the American wild this year. While Lady Gaga and Adele and Beyoncé are absent, this year's show apparently has one performance that will cost $500,000 to pul ... More >>

Live: Electric Zoo Brings PLUR (And Snoop Dogg's DJ Alter Ego) To New York City

The up-and-coming artist known as DJ Snoopadelic. Electric Zoo Randall's Island Sunday, September 4 Better than: Did someone already reference the Labor Day shootings? Eesh. Electric Zoo—the dance music festival that's parts techno, house, trance, disco, bass, "electro," and any other somew ... More >>

Radio Hits One: The Elusive Superstar Duet (Or Three-Way)

​ In last week's breakdown of Lil Wayne's chart ubiquity, I noted that while Lady Gaga's Born This Way and its singles seemed to be everywhere, she hasn't staked out much additional Billboard territory with collaborations. Her only charting collab of late is "3-Way (The Golden Rule)," a little ... More >>

Live: Rick Ross Lives Out His Dreams At Summer Jam

​Hot 97 Summer Jam New Meadowlands Stadium Sunday, June 5 Better than: Sitting at home and moping like 50 Cent. Rick Ross closed out Summer Jam. Just so there's no revisionist history here, let's remember how incredible that statement is. Three years ago, Ross was the punching bag of hip-h ... More >>

Bin Laden Audio Recording "Puzzling"; New York Ranger Found Dead

​An unreleased audio message from Osama Bin Laden recorded just before his death has been described as "puzzling" and "a head scratcher" by an official. In the recording, Bin Laden talks about the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, but not Libya, Yemen, or Syria. It's confusing that Bin Laden would ... More >>

Hot 97 Announces The Seemingly Young Money-Sponsored Summer Jam '11 Lineup

​ Hot 97 has announced the lineup for Summer Jam '11, and it's (perhaps unsurprisingly) filled with Young Money acts: superstars Lil Wayne and Drake act as the de facto headliners, while a non-specific set by Young Money, the label, is on tap. Could that possibly mean an eventual cameo by Nic ... More >>

The Jay-Z Fast Food Jukebox at Brooklyn's Buffalo Boss

While waiting for my fiery chicken wings at Buffalo Boss (read the review here ), the new wing joint at least partly owned by Jay-Z, I got to wondering, What should the music be at a place owned by Brooklyn's most respected hip-hop artist and businessman? Rap, of course, but what kind of rap? The ... More >>

Rihanna Gal Pal Revealed! Exclusive!

​Remember when everyone was buzzing about Rihanna hanging with a blonde woman in Barbados for the holidays, the blonde really hanging, boobaliciously speaking? Well, the press presumptuously reported that the woman was Rihanna's bodyguard--and truly, she does like like if anyone could keep Ch ... More >>

Live: Soulja Boy Tears Himself Away From Twitter For A Half Hour At Webster Hall

The hardest-working man in social media. Pics by Puja, more below.​Soulja Boy Webster Hall Thursday, December 2 Better Than: Every rap show I've covered this year. ('Sup, Drake.) There's a lot of nonsense associated with Soulja Boy. Excessive use of the word "swag" aside, the guy's most popu ... More >>

The 10 Best Posse Cuts of 2010 (So Far)

​Posse cuts are like friendlier versions of the WWE's Royal Rumble -- a platform designed to showcase all of the stars in the game, both up-and-coming and certified. Think back to the Main Source's 1991 "Live At The Barbecue," featuring Akinyele, Joe Fatal, and the debut of a rapper named Nas, ... More >>

MTV's Video Music Awards Had Me Gaga

​Every year, MTV pretends it's still a music channel and gives awards to the videos it shows in the middle of the night between NyQuil commercials. Fortunately, the VMAs are riveting nonetheless, the entire community assembling to lip-synch a song and screech out an acceptance speech. Rather ... More >>

T.I. in Takers

This is the best baseline-competent action movie to come out all summer

American Idol Season 9, R&B Week: Usher Clowns Tim Urban; Crystal Bowersox Teaches Typing

Michael Lynche goes India.Arie. Photo by Michael Becker / FOX. ​It's not always this way, but American Idol viewers had plenty of reason to fear the living hell out of soul/R&B week in this, the whitest Idol year in memory. Most of the remaining contestants this year look and act like they bel ... More >>

Michael Musto's Top Three Top Ten Lists, Because Why Not?

Hey, Gucci Mane's The State Vs. Radric Davis Is #10 in the Country!

​He's no Susan Boyle (#1 for the third straight world beating week, for a grand old-people-still-buy-records total of 1.8 million copies of I Dreamed a Dream sold), but Gucci Mane does have his first top ten record. He sold 90,000--not quite Jadakiss numbers, but better than being the Clipse, ... More >>

Week in Review: Bros4Life

Not even the 15th worst record this decade. Have a good weekend!​In the week our F2K crew quantitatively decided that though Nickleback and Gym Class Heroes are bad, William Hung and Hinder were a whole lot worse, we continued to count down the worst songs of the '00s. That Santana song keepin ... More >>

'Power 105.1 FM's Powerhouse'

Michael Jackson Tribute Concert Canceled

​They tried to get Mary J. Blige, former druggie Natalie Cole, and woman beater Chris Brown, but they ended up with Sister Sledge, or at least a splintered version of the group. (Last time I looked, the lead singer was doing solo gigs and was ironically singing "We Are All Family" all by herse ... More >>

News Roundup: Perez Hilton Gets Punched in the Face, Rihanna/Chris Brown, Flaming Lips, Kate Moss

--A member of Will.i.am's posse allegedly clocked Perez Hilton in the face last night. The blogger tweeted from a Toronto hotel around 3 a.m. last night: "I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke." Hil ... More >>

Sporadically Vibrant Reports From the R&B Salt Mines with Ciara and Chrisette Michele

New jams for low-riders and supper clubs, respectively

This Week in the Voice

Remember the epidemic years of AIDS, when infected New Yorkers fought to get into untested drug trials? People fought to get infected babies into those trials, too. Some of them, because of the nature of the trials, were given placebo drugs. Some made it, some didn't. Not much has been written abo ... More >>

Horrific Survey of the Day: Half of Boston Youths Say Rihanna Was "Responsible" For Chris Brown Mauling

In news too depressing to really even contemplate, the Boston Public Health Commission reports that out of 200 teenagers--aged 12 to 19--interviewed about dating violence, "nearly half of Boston youths surveyed said [Rihanna] was 'responsible' for what happened while 52 percent said they were both ... More >>

Your Morning Headlines

The Post on the subtle genius of Sean Delonas: It was only Post-haters who didn't like the very funny cartoon about homicidal chimpanzees who write legislation.NYU students protesting for more time to figure out what they're protesting.Sue the Times, get to write an editorial: lawyers for lobbyist s ... More >>

Week in Review: Stop Trying to Establish Visual Rapport with A Blind Man, and Stop Yelling at Him, Too

photo of Bodega zaniness by Rebecca Smeyne In the week the Jonas Brothers attempted to bring light to the blind, we watched the Grammys set race relations back 20 years. Chris Brown and Rihanna missed the ceremony, but you already knew that, didn't you? We talked to actor Elliott Gould, TV host a ... More >>

Age, Beauty Before Youth at Grammys

Despite myriad concessions to modishness and a Twitter feed, it was a Steely Dan sort of year at the Grammys as Robert Plant and Alison Krause's Raising Sand won five awards including Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year ("Please Read the Letter"), and awards in the Country and Contemporary Folk ... More >>

The BET Awards: A Running Diary

American Idol Week Twelve: Please, God, Let It End

Grading the iTunes Hits

Interview: Lupe Fiasco

The VMAs: A Running Diary

Hot 97's Summer Jam: A Preview

Things I Learned Watching Stomp the Yard

Status Ain't Hood Does Summer Jam