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Hayley Williams Pimps Her Ride For MTV

Posted 9/24/09 2:38 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Music


Hayley Williams' car is truly amazing, and not just because it's a total junker that your 16-year-old sister would drive for a month before smashing into the mailbox while attempting to back out of the driveway (though, you know, that is a pretty big reason).

No, Williams' car — a six-year-old Mazda affectionately known as Ms. Anne — is amazing because it's a sort of time-capsule of her entire life, both before and after she became the lead singer of a mega-successful pop-punk act who just made one of the year's finest albums, Brand New Eyes.

Inside and out, Williams has plastered Ms. Anne with band stickers, buttons, plastic action figures, homemade art and the occasional inspirational message. It's positively loaded with tchotchkes and trinkets (seriously, it's sort of a T.G.I. Fridays on wheels), each representing a moment or memory from her past, present, or even future.

Case in point: A sticker slapped on her bumper by Michigan punk act the Swellers, who had previously crashed at Williams' house, are now her labelmates on Fueled By Ramen, and, starting next week, will share the stage with Paramore when they kick off their Brand New Eyes tour next week. Past, present and future — all on one strip of vinyl.

But that's just one tiny piece of the (much bigger) picture. Read More...

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Trent Reznor To Create Tag Team With Gary Numan

Posted 9/24/09 1:40 pm EST by in Music


By Cara Alwill

Though he has declared that his recently-completed "Wave Goodbye" tour represented his retirement from performing live, Trent Reznor hasn't hung up his recording spurs just yet. In fact, he's about to hit the studio with a friend and hero: Gary Numan. The budding relationship between the two became evident when Numan took the stage during the gigs on the Los Angeles leg of the tour and performed multiple songs with Nine Inch Nails and was welcomed with rave reviews.

Musically speaking, a collaboration of this magnitude could result in some pretty fantastic results. Reznor and Numan are icons in their respective genres, and it is clear they make magic on stage together. That magic wasn't necessarily going to be a given — Numan admitted to the Quietus that when invited out to the Los Angeles shows, he wasn't sure what to expect. "For some reason, I don't know why, I just thought it would be a different atmosphere to what it was. And what it was was just really warm and friendly, and Nine Inch Nails and warm and friendly don't necessarily go together! I should have known better. Everyone was great, the crew, the band, everybody, they made me feel really welcome. It was a fantastic experience, I was riding on that for a bit."

So, what's the timeline for the duo? In the same interview, Numan said, "I know he wants to carry on doing music things. We went out a few days after [the L.A. gigs] with a few other people and the way he puts it is when the dust settles — I think he means his marriage — but I think he's going to be pretty busy for a while, so it'll either be later this year or early next."

If their scintillating performances in Los Angeles (including their runs through "I Die You Die" and "Down in the Park") are any indication of what we can expect, then we're in for something big.

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Kid Rock, Method Man, Fabolous And Others Kick It At VH1's Hip-Hop Honors

Posted 9/24/09 12:50 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Music


No sleep 'til Brooklyn. During rush hour, it takes about 90 minutes to get from Manhattan to BK, but horrendous traffic couldn't deter stars current and past from the Def Jam label from traveling to the world's most popular borough for VH1's sixth annual "Hip-Hop Honors." Right in the heart of Crooklyn at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the red carpet for the event was filled with heat (literally — it felt like it was about 120 degrees) and love.

KRS-One must have hugged former Def Jam franchise player DMX on the carpet. The Blastmaster said a definitive "Him!" and pointed to X when asked who was one of the artists that defined the label over the years.

Meanwhile, there's clearly no more bad blood between Ashanti and Ja Rule, as she smiled brightly when talking about performing with her former Murder Inc. labelmate.

Ludacris arrived with Player's Circle and Titi Boy took home the award for flashiest bling with a iced-out 747 hanging off of his chest.

As the carpet came to a close, Method Man ran into Kid Rock and the compliments went flying. Meanwhile, Fabolous said hello to fellow BK native Foxy Brown. Inside, Foxy and Onyx's Sticky Fingaz exchanged numbers before going to their seats.

Check out the rest of our "VH1 Hip-Hop Honors" photo gallery, featuring Ludacris, Kid Rock, Ghostface, Chuck D, Trey Songz and Flavor Flav! And be sure to check out the show, which airs on VH1 on Tuesday, October 13 at 9 p.m.!

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Who Could Join Paula Abdul On 'X-Factor'?

Posted 9/24/09 12:06 pm EST by in Television


It's been nearly two months since Paula Abdul announced that she would not be returning to her judges' chair on "American Idol," and though she made quite a splash as the host of "VH1 Divas" last week (complete with a tongue-in-cheek look at her "Idol" replacement Ellen DeGeneres), she still doesn't have a full-time gig to replace her "Idol" job. Though there were rumors that she would be added to the adjudicators' table on "So You Think You Can Dance," it appears as though that offer was only as a guest. Now comes the rumor that Fox may be importing "X-Factor" — another performance-based British import created and produced by "American Idol" main man Simon Cowell — for the U.S. and the top judge position may be going to Abdul herself.

Abdul has always been the charming second banana on "American Idol," but even with DeGeneres' big personality, it will always be Cowell's show. Does Paula have the chops to take the lead on a show of her own? The most recent season of "Idol" saw her definitely step her game up, and some of her rosy insight actually worked as constructive criticism (as opposed to previous seasons, where she basically hugged everybody who walked through the door). But if you think about it, do you actually know what Paula looks for in a performer? Cowell's worldview is pretty clear (as is Randy Jackson's, though to a lesser extent), but Paula's criteria isn't entirely clear. Obviously, the opportunity to anchor her own program would give her the chance to share those thoughts, but at the moment we don't really know what we'd be getting.

But let's assume that Abdul does take over "X-Factor." The question then becomes: Who do you add to the team? It's unlikely that MC Skat Kat will become a fixture on the show, so after that we're out of ideas. Got any bright ones? Drop some knowledge in the comments below or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard.

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs Pick Up Where The VMAs Left Off At Radio City Music Hall

Posted 9/24/09 11:30 am EST by in Concerts, Music


By Sabrina Rojas Weiss

Lady Gaga certainly did impress many a fashionista and performance art fan with her multiple outlandish costume changes on the stage of Radio City Music Hall at the MTV Video Music Awards. But less than two weeks later, another singer known for her alien get-ups and dramatic flair took that same stage, and I believe the sold-out crowd for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show on Wednesday night would agree with me when I say Karen O might have Gaga beat. Something about Karen's wailing vocals — combined with the driving, rock-and-roll thrust produced by drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner — match those bizarre headdresses, vinyl bodices, polka-dotted tentacles and giant spangled necklaces better than a catchy pop tune ever could.

The Brooklyn band's set was much the same (though slightly longer) as their performances earlier this summer at the All Points West festival in New Jersey and at Lollapalooza in August. Starting off with "Runaway" from this year's underrated It's Blitz, they evenly alternated new songs with favorites from Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones. Some elements of the performance — the bouncing giant eyeball balloons sent into the audience, Karen spitting a fountain of water above her head — perhaps fit better in those outdoor festival settings. And the energy, from both crowd and band, wasn't quite as high as during those short sets. Then again, when she donned her colorful headdress (seemingly made from hundreds of felt hands) for "Skeleton" and that classic, studded leather jacket for "Zero," it was a relief not to have to worry she'd have a heat stroke on the air-conditioned stage.

And sure, the costumes, the confetti and the giant, glitter Ys that descended from the ceiling make for great spectacle, but the most impressive part of a YYYs show is how Karen O. Read More...

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'Dancing With The Stars' Results: Patrick Swayze Upstages Everybody

Posted 9/24/09 11:12 am EST by in Television


"Dancing with the Stars" launched this week with what is most certainly the most eclectic and evenly-matched cast in the show's nine seasons. Last night's elimination show saw the exit of R&B weirdo Macy Gray and Hollywood scion Ashley Hamilton. But the episode — and the whole week, really — was hijacked by a tribute to the late Patrick Swayze, who did as much as anybody to bring dancing back to the big screen and into the mainstream. A pair of the professional dancers on the show did a touching dance to Swayze's "She's Like the Wind" while another two re-created the final routine from "Dirty Dancing" (accompanied, of course, by "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." (There was a third tribute — an interpretive dance of the pottery scene from "Ghost" — but the less said about that, the better.) Some of the celebrity dancers had good weeks — particularly Mya, Donny Osmond and Aaron Carter — but the Swayze tributes really drove home how much better the pros are than their more-famous counterparts.

Other highlights from this week: The duel between Tom Delay and Chuck Liddell continued with relatively even scores and Joanna Krupa revealed herself as a better mover than anybody thought. Also, last night saw the premiere of a snippet of Miley Cyrus' new video for "Party in the U.S.A." that featured lots of cowboy boots, pickup trucks and giant "Patton"-esque American flag backdrops.

With one week in the books and two dancers gone, Krupa and Carter have the best scores with Mya and (shockingly) Kelly Osbourne not far behind. The competition should get livelier as more and more people get eliminated, but it's pretty clear that the three-night marathon kickoff-a-palooza is simply too much.

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Soulja Boy Tell'em Hits The Studio With Chris Brown

Posted 9/24/09 10:15 am EST by in Music


Soulja Boy Tell'em has a new album coming out in November, and the details are starting to come together that could make it one of the hotter releases on the hip-hop calendar. Soulja has been keeping up a constant series of tweets narrating the development of his new album The DeAndre Way (which takes it's title from Soulja's given name, DeAndre Way). Past Soulja albums have all been star-studded affairs, and this one will obviously be no different, as in just the past 24 hours he has mentioned working with both Drake and Chris Brown. He even posted a photo of himself and Brown taking a break from working.

Soulja also hit up his Twitter account last night to debut his new mixtape My Way of Life, which features 25 tracks, including a remix of "Successful" with Trey Songz and Lil Wayne. The mixtape also has guest spots from Nicki Minaj, Birdman and the S.O.D. Money Gang.

But Souja Boy's best Twitter moment of the past week was actually a tweet by Spencer Pratt. Last night, Soulja tweeted, "Just finished new song with Drake." Pratt saw it and re-tweeted, but also added "and King Spencer Pratt" at the end of it. Rest assured that the "Hills" star won't be dropping a verse on The DeAndre Way — or any rap album, for that matter.

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The New York Mets Weren't Always This Miserable: Wake-Up Video

Posted 9/24/09 9:00 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


Last night, the New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves. Even though they have the second-largest payroll in baseball (they'll shell out a total of $145 million in salaries this year) and some of the league's marquee talents (David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez, just to name a handful), they have won a mere 65 games and have been out of the playoff chase for months already. The season — their first in Citi Field, a brand new $900 million ballpark that often feels less like a place to watch baseball and more like a mall in New Jersey — has been undone by a combination of injuries to key players (Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran both missed most of the year), erratic starting pitching (Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey have all had issues) and some questionable management decisions. All in all, they've proven to be a pretty sorry excuse for a baseball team and a metaphor for excess and hubris.

But it wasn't always like this. In fact, 40 years ago, it was much, much better. On this day in 1969, the New York Mets completed one of the greatest season comebacks in history. In their entire history, they had never finished higher than ninth place, and the '69 season started off in typical middling fashion. Down nine-and-a-half games in the middle of August, the Mets won 39 of their final 50 to pass the (admittedly collapsing) Chicago Cubs to finish in first place, and on September 24, they clinched the top spot in the NL East. They followed that with a sweep of the Braves in the first-ever National League Championship Series and then beat the Baltimore Orioles in five games to take their first ever World Series. So profound was the team's turnaround that they were referred to as the "Miracle Mets," so to celebrate that team (and as hope for next season), check out the Hidden Cameras' "A Miracle."

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'Hip Hop Honors' Red Carpet Turns Up The Volume With Eve, Kid Rock, More

Posted 9/23/09 9:08 pm EST by in Music


While VH1's "Hip Hop Honors" doesn't air until October 13, rap's royalty converged on the Brooklyn Academy of Music tonight to tape the special, which is honoring the storied Def Jam label this year.

Some of the attendees paid tribute to the label's history with their red-carpet fashion as well. Kid Rock's Kangol hat, Adidas jumpsuit and dookie chain recalled vintage LL Cool J, while Flavor Flav paid homage to ... well, himself, in a white top hat, white shades and, of course, a white clock.



Other artists wore their Sunday best for the occasion, with Method Man cleaning up in a black jacket and white shirt and Trey Songz showing the men how it's done in a double-breasted gray vest and maroon shirt. Eve played the part of hip-hop's leading lady in a low-cut black dress, fingerless gloves and a fun yellow-and-black-striped clutch.

Want to see more fab fashion? Check out our "Hip Hop Honors" red-carpet gallery!

Which hip-hop heavyweight do you think looked best? Sound off below!

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Jay-Z's Next Conquest: Yoga?

Posted 9/23/09 5:37 pm EST by in Music


By Chad Bullock

Admit it: It would be a little unusual to see all six-and-a-half feet of Jay-Z with his legs behind his ear. But according to the chart-topping Brooklyn rapper, we may see that sooner rather than later. The hip-hop mogul recently stated that Coldplay frontman (and collaborator and friend) Chris Martin has accelerated his interest in practicing yoga. "Chris hasn't tried to get me to do yoga yet but I am close to doing it," Hova said. "I'm envious of what he can do on stage. Watching him is amazing, he can really move. I want to be able to move like that, get my leg behind my ear, things like that."

Jay-Z never fails to let us know why he is considered one of the best in the game. He has kicked out 11 #1 studio albums (beating Elvis' record), put a huge ring on the hottest chick in the game's finger and now he might try to conquer the yoga game. Maybe he wants to loosen up for a dance-off with Beyoncé? Maybe he wants spice things up at home? Whatever the case, he is not the only rapper to pick up yoga.

Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons is a strong advocate for yoga in hip-hop. "It affects what everybody raps about," he has said. Simmons added that Diddy has also attended his yoga classes. "It's not full of rappers yet, but we're hopeful." Perhaps Simmons can soon add Jay-Z to the guest list.

What do you think: Should Jay-Z practice his downward dog or should he leave the dolphin poses to Chris Martin? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

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