MTV Newsroom ›

It's always a bit of a bummer for kids whose birthdays are so close to Christmas. They always get somewhat shafted on gifts growing up, right? But that probably hasn't mattered in a few years for David Cook, who turns 28 years old today. The man who won the seventh season of "American Idol" (arguably the show's second or third best season ever) has two albums, a bunch of singles and a number of dream collaborations under his belt, and you can be certain he is celebrating this holiday season.

Cook grew up in Missouri and started playing guitar at age 12. He famously had no intentions of auditioning for "American Idol" (he was only going to the auditions as support for his brother (who ironically was not given a pass to the Hollywood round). He was something of a quiet underdog in the beginning, but he slowly began to amass a number of excellent, memorable performances with unusual arrangements (including the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby"). By the end, it came down to Cook and David Archuleta, with the former ultimately beating the latter by 12 million votes for the victory.

Since his win on the show, Cook produced an excellent self-titled album that allowed him to collaborate with some of his favorite artists and personal heroes (including Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin) as well as Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo. To celebrate his big day, check out the video for the single "Light On," which was co-written by Cornell.

Tags American Idol, Birthday, David-Cook, video

Really, you should be listening to music every day, but thanks to Twitter, Monday has become the best day of the week to discover new songs, show some love to the tune currently dominating your iPod playlist and quietly judge the listening habits of your closest friends. Yes, it's #MusicMonday, one of Twitter's most enduring trending topics. Hence "MTV News' #MusicMonday," a weekly look at the songs we are currently crushing on.

This week, David Banner and 9th Wonder's hop-hop soul warms our holiday hearts.

Over the past decade, Mississippi hip-hop institution David Banner has made a name for himself with his relentless attack on the sounds of the south. But for his new album Death of a Popstar, he teamed up with former Little Brother member and sought-after producer 9th Wonder for a whole new type of sound. 9th Wonder's production is inspired by a mix of Native Tongues fusion, Motown cool and street-wise funk, which wouldn't normally gel well with Banner's jagged, blustery, overpowering flow. He should be huffing and puffing and blowing the beats down on Death of a Popstar.

But in a pleasantly surprising twist, that's not the case at all. Banner has softened and refined his flow a bit over time, but he still manages to pack a punch and reveals huge, blistering pockets of funk deep in 9th Wonder's grooves. The single "Be With You" is a prime example of its excellence, as it delivers a bubbly, effervescent groove paired with the best example of Banner's hybrid flow. Ever since he stopped by "RapFix Live" a few weeks back, we haven't been able to get this jam out of our heads.

Tags #MusicMonday, 9th Wonder, david-banner, video

With Christmas on a Saturday this year, that means that the actual holiday is this Friday, December 24. And with the holiday pushed up a day, that means that it's essentially a short week for most people — including late night talk shows hosts. The ones who are working this week (and a handful are on vacation entirely) are running short, even though there are plenty of Christmas movies and year-end events to promote. David Letterman is taking Friday off but working the rest of the week, with shows featuring Jack Black (Monday, December 20), Jamie Foxx (Tuesday, December 21) and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (Wednesday, December 22). Over on "The Tonight Show," Jay Leno is countering with the recently-retired Larry King (Monday), Emma Stone (Tuesday) and Javier Bardem (Wednesday).

Jimmy Kimmel is taking a vacation, but the other Jimmy (that's Fallon) is hard at work this week with Jason Segel and "True Grit" phenom Hailee Steinfeld (Monday), Jack Black (Tuesday), Ethan Hawke (Wednesday) and comedian Dave Attell (Thursday, December 23). Both "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are on holiday hiatus, so your cable fix will have to be satisfied by Chelsea, Conan and George. "Chelsea Lately" features visits from Diddy-Dirty Money (Monday), Reese Witherspoon (Tuesday) and Crystal Bowersox (Wednesday). Meanwhile, Conan O'Brien will welcome Kevin Spacey (Tuesday) and Jack Black (Wednesday) to the set of "Conan," and George Lopez will follow him with will.i.am (Wednesday) and (once again) Jack Black (Thursday). And for a truly uncomfortable portion of your day, tune into "The View" on Monday for a visit from a handful of stars from WWE.

Tags Late Night, Talk Shows

Last week, Wake-Up Video commemorated an important moment in the history of hip-hop that saw the beginnings of musicians being properly compensated for the use of their songs in samples in rap tunes. On this day in 1969, another huge moment occurred in the history of sampling, as James Brown and his band recorded the song "Funky Drummer," a track that would go down in history as (likely) the most-sampled track of all time because of its drum solo.

The drums in question were played by Clyde Stubblefield, who would later come to be known as "The Funky Drummer" because of his work on this particular track. As it stands, "Funky Drummer" isn't much of a song — there's no real vocal performance from Brown and the groove just sort of ebbs and flows. Instead of a proper vocal, Brown mostly encourages various members of his band, egging them on as they jam. When he gets to Stubblefield, he declares the beat "a mother," and the ensuing eight bars of drum magic helped fuel some of the biggest hip-hop tracks in history.

It's uncertain exactly who got to "Funky Drummer" first, but it certainly got passed around an awful lot. In addition to being name-checked on Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" (where it is also sampled), "Funky Drummer" is all over N.W.A's "F--- Tha Police," LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out," Ice T's "Original Gangster," Eric B. & Rakim's "Lyrics of Fury," Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride" and Ultramagnetic MCs' "Give the Drummer Some." (There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, more songs out there that borrow from "Funky Drummer," including non-rap tracks by Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and New Order.) Run-D.M.C. also went to the "Funky Drummer" well with "Run's House" (from 1988's Tougher Than Leather).

Tags Clyde Stubblefield, James-Brown, run-dmc, video

It's the last weekend before Christmas, which means that you may be extremely busy over the next few days finishing your shopping, preparing food for giant meals, wrapping gifts and girding yourself for nightmarish travel. On the other hand, many of you won't be doing any of that and will be able to poke fun at the people at the mall as you casually check out "Tron: Legacy," spin through the bonus features on the "Inception" DVD, pay a visit to your local NBA arena for some hot action (like Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks take on the Miami Heat) or just lay low while watching Eminem and Lil Wayne on "Saturday Night Live."

Whatever you choose to do, please do it safely, stay warm and be sure to prepare yourself by catching up with what you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom Blog.

» There were arguments, lists and arguments about lists all over the blog this week, starting with a battle between Kanye West and Eminem over whose album was the best of the year.

» More controversy erupted over the new batch of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, which somehow includes the guy who wrote "Red Red Wine."

» With all these contentious arguments flying around, it's no wonder we hit the 10th anniversary of the end of the 2000 election.

» There were celebrations this week, too, as we raised a glass to Taylor Swift's 21st birthday.

» We also congratulated Jennifer Love Hewitt for her Golden Globe nomination for "The Client List."
Read more...

Tags 30 Seconds to Mars, Eminem, Jared Leto, Justin Bieber, Kanye West

Earlier today (Friday, December 17), MTV News handed out its awards for Man of the Year and Woman of the Year (we even made up these awesome trophies to give to the victors, just like we did when Coheed and Cambria won MTV News' Musical March Madness). After careful consideration, Kanye West was named the Man of the Year and Lady Gaga took home Woman of the Year (Gaga actually took home the prize for the second straight year). Each of them just barely stood ahead of the other finalists in the Man and Woman of the Year races, including superstars like Justin Bieber, Eminem, Taylor Swift, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Katy Perry and Lil Wayne.

(Click here for more photos of the Man and Woman of the Year finalists, including Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Katy Perry!)

But did the readers agree with the final verdicts? The MTV Newsroom Blog asked just such a question earlier today in a poll, and it turns out the readers mostly see eye to eye with the MTV News staff. In the Man of the Year poll, Kanye West edged out Eminem to take the first place spot with 64 percent of the vote (versus Slim Shady's 35 percent). The other finalists were all left in the dust, with Bieber, Drake and Lil Wayne finishing behind the top two in that order (the same order, it should be noted, that MTV News ranked them).

The competition was a bit more even on the Woman of the Year poll, but in the end, Lady Gaga stood tall as the winner with 55 percent of the vote. Nicki Minaj finished in second place with 20 percent, followed by Katy Perry (15 percent) and Taylor Swift (seven percent). Snooki collected three percent in fifth place.

So congratulations one more time to Kanye West and Lady Gaga, the Man of the Year and Woman of the Year for 2010. The consensus has spoken, and they have both earned their titles.

(Click here for more photos of the Man and Woman of the Year finalists, including Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Katy Perry!)

Tags Kanye West, Lady Gaga

By Matt Elias

A few years back at Austin's South by Southwest festival, the MTV News team conjured up five hard-hitting questions to ask the various bands hanging around Austin. Since everything old is new again, we decided to do a little re-gifting at this past weekend's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles.

The radio station's iconic holiday show — better known to regulars as "ACX" and less known as a show where any actual acoustic music is played — boasted a stellar line-up on its second night: Phoenix, Vampire Weekend (who are seasoned pros at this five questions thing), Brandon Flowers, the Black Keys, Florence & the Machine, Neon Trees, Temper Trap, Broken Bells, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Some of those bands were gracious enough to subject themselves to our questionnaire. Of course, this was after we asked them harder questions, like how Phoenix was approached the soundtrack to Sophia Coppola's new film "Somewhere" and what's inspiring Vampire Weekend's next album.

But once that was out of the way, we could move onto the juicy stuff. So if you're dying to know who uses baby wipes in between sets or know what it's like backstage in 140 characters or less, then you have come to the right place.

Here they are, our five questions at KROQ's ACX 2010. It's our extra-special Christmas gift to you. Don't say the MTV Newsroom Blog never gave you anything.

Tags Christmas, KROQ, Phoenix, Vampire-Weekend, video

"It's official! I need to move. I need to sweat. I need to make new music! Music I can dance to. I'm on the lookout for the maddest, sickest, most bad ass people to collaborate with. I'm just saying ..."

-Legendary pop superstar Madonna, writing on her Facebook page about her plan to jump back into the music world. The 52-year-old singer, actress, activist and mother hasn't been gone for that long. She last put out new music in 2008 with the extremely well-received Hard Candy, which was considered something of a comeback after a few albums' worth of middling ideas (specifically 2003's American Life and 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor). She also spent nearly a year on the road bringing her hugely profitable Sticky & Sweet Tour (total worldwide gross was $408 million, making it the most successful solo tour of all time) to sold-out venues around the world.

But as of late, Madonna has been distracted by other projects. She just opened the first of a series of health clubs called Hard Candy Fitness, which is now open for business in Mexico City. Madonna has also been hard at work directing a film called "W.E.," a biopic about King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that stars Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough. There's also the Material Girl clothing line (a co-production with her 14-year-old daughter Lourdes) and her various charitable causes. But she'll always come back to music, which was the thing that helped her become such a huge cultural icon.

Who do you think Madonna should collaborate with on her next album? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Madonna, Quote

This weekend, Eminem and Lil Wayne will once again share a stage when the pair storm the set of "Saturday Night Live" for that show's final episode of 2010. "Tron: Legacy" and "True Grit" star Jeff Bridges will handle hosting duties, while Slim Shady and Weezy will take the reigns for the musical portions of the show. After a change of structure in last week's show (which saw Paul McCartney perform a whopping five times), the pair will likely just be performing the customary two songs during the course of the evening (perhaps a one-two punch of "No Love" and "Drop the World").

But that leaves a lot of show still hanging around, and you have to figure that both Eminem and Weezy will be integrated into some of the sketches somehow. After all, the man born Marshall Mathers is an actor (he just signed on to play a boxer in a new movie) and Wayne is ... well, he's certainly funny, you have to give him that.

"Saturday Night Live" is currently in an era that doesn't have a whole lot of regular sketches, but if they were to go back to the well for Wayne and Em, here are the sketches they could play in.

"What Up With That?"
The pair are a natural fit for "What Up With That" because it requires several famous faces in order to make it work (and Bill Hader playing Lindsey Buckingham, as always). Don't you want to see Lil Wayne dancing while Keenan Thompson freestyles? Of course you do.

"Scared Straight"
In a sketch that would be strangely topical, Thompson's "Scared Straight" character could bring in Wayne, who was recently released from incarceration in real life. Since "SNL" rarely misses the chance to blur the line between reality and fiction, so this should be considered something of a lock.

"La Rivista Della Televisione"
This would be great if only because it'd be fun to watch Wayne try not to crack up while Hader spews out his particular version of fake Italian. The twist could even be that Eminem understands everything he is saying and raps in some of that same pidgin language.

"The Miley Cyrus Show"
Vanessa Bayer's Miley impression is pretty excellent, and since Cyrus is in the news at the moment, it would make perfect sense to go back to the well to have her talk about her now-infamous bong hit video. Add Lil Wayne and Eminem (two dudes who are probably comfortable around smoke) and you've got an instant classic.

What "SNL" sketches would you like to see Eminem and Lil Wayne appear in? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Eminem, Lil Wayne, saturday-night-live

There are any number of albums that could be considered in the conversation for best album of 2010, but according to the readers of the MTV Newsroom Blog, it's a two-horse race between Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (the consensus favorite among critics, including MTV News' own James Montgomery) and Eminem's Recovery (an overwhelming favorite among the readers and commenters all over MTV News). On Thursday (December 16), we decided to attempt put the argument to rest and let the readers vote in a poll that would decide, once and for all, exactly which album is the superior one at year's end.

After 24 hours and over 20,000 votes, we're actually no clearer to figuring out a consensus winner. Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy did win the poll with 51 percent of the vote, but Eminem's Recovery was right behind it with 47 percent (they were separated by less than a thousand votes). Considering there were 15 possible albums people could have voted for, that's a pretty impressive run from both sides. West is the winner, but Slim Shady racked up enough support to keep himself in the conversation.

With 98 percent of voters picking between two albums, there wasn't much room for everybody else. Of the albums not made by West or Eminem, Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty brought in the most number of votes, though it still wasn't good enough for a full percentage point. Rihanna's Loud was the only other album on the list to pick up votes in the triple-digits. And poor Robyn ended up at the back of the line, as Body Talk finished at the rear.

Tags Eminem, Kanye West